DEVILS RALLY TO BEAT PENGUINS IN OVERTIME, 3-2

The New Jersey Devils rallied to post a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime Sunday at Mellon Arena.

The Penguins built a 2-0 lead at the first intermission, but the Devils marched back to capture the victory.

“Basically, we did a good job of carrying the play throughout. We had a bit of a breakdown toward the end, got that penalty and gave them a chance. It’s tough to not come out of here with two points,” Penguins rookie Sidney Crosby said. “We have to be pretty happy with the way we played. We had a letdown there at the end, which happens sometimes. We have to take away what we did well and make sure we don’t let that happen again.”

Penguins coach Michel Therrien believes the contest will give his young team a valuable learning experience.

“We were 20 seconds away from saying what a great game we played. We can’t lose the focus on how we played. We need to learn from those types of games because we are a young team,” he said. “When you look at their roster, half of the team has won the Stanley Cup. I really believe in the last five minutes, their experience really took over. Our inexperience hurt us. I hope our young team will learn from the game. When you learn, you’ll get better.”

Crosby scored a power-play goal with 1:55 to go in the first. He chipped the puck over Martin Brodeur’s right shoulder. Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney had assists.